Adele Blakebrough to step down as CAN CEO 

12th May 2008 - Adele Blakebrough, the award-winning social entrepreneur and co-founder of CAN, is to step down as CEO in September.

She will be replaced by Andrew Croft, Director of CAN Mezzanine, the social enterprise providing high quality, affordable office space for the Third Sector.

Adele will continue as a senior consultant for CAN, concentrating on Breakthrough, CAN's social investment fund that she pioneered in 2005. She will remain as Chair of the Breakthrough Advisory Panel.

‘I am personally delighted to be placing CAN in the hands of such a high quality management team led by Andrew,' said Adele. ‘He has done a fantastic job in building CAN Mezzanine. He brings first rate business skills to CAN's mission of scaling up social enterprise. I look forward to working with him closely as he leads CAN to a new level of success.' 

Andrew joined CAN in September 2006 as CAN Mezzanine Director alongside Kate Markey, Communications and HR Director who will become Deputy Chief Executive in September. Denise Holle who joined CAN as Social Investment Director in November 2007 from Merrill Lynch will continue to concentrate on Breakthrough. The Finance Director is Hazel Dodd who joined CAN in March 2008.

Adele co-founded CAN as an online support network for social entrepreneurs in 1998 with Lord Andrew Mawson. She is known for her pioneering work in collaborating with the corporate sector to grow the impact of social enterprises in the UK. In 2006, Adele was awarded the MBE for services to social enterprise. And last year she received the prestigious Business in the Community Sieff Award for engaging corporates for social benefit.

Under her leadership, CAN launched Breakthrough which applies a venture philanthropy approach to scaleable social enterprises, providing growth funds and management intervention. CAN Mezzanine runs two sites in London housing 108 charities and social enterprises. It plans to open two more buildings this year.    

Andrew Croft had a significant private sector career, working at the John Lewis Partnership and as European Expansion Manager and VP Business Development in the USA and Europe for the easyGroup of companies.   

‘I have never worked harder but never had so much fun,' said Andrew of his time in the third sector. ‘My entrepreneurial experience at easyGroup and more than a decade working for such a values-driven business as John Lewis Partnership made coming into the social enterprise sector an obvious choice.'

Adele is a board and founding member of the Social Enterprise Coalition and Unltd as well as a trustee of Charities Aid Foundation.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

CAN's (formerly Community Action Network) mission is to bring about major social change through support social enterprises and trading charities.

CAN Breakthrough is a social investment fund launched in 2005. It has raised three million euros and made strategic investments in five social enterprises. These investments have been supported by significant inputs of time and expertise from Permira, the private equity firm which is CAN's partner in Breakthrough. Over a two-year period, the turnover of the social enterprises in Breakthrough grew by 20 per cent and their social impact by 40 per cent.

CAN Mezzanine

Provides high quality affordable office space in great locations.

Two offices currently housing 108 Third Sector organisations

Two more sites opening in 2008

In 2006 won the National Charity Award in recognition of its support to the sector

Independent social impact research found that CAN Mezzanine saves the sector £2.2m in office space rental every year.

CAN Mezzanine is 55% cheaper than the average price of the three main private sector office space providers.

Corporate Engagement Programmes

CAN selects high quality SEs or trading charities to work with some of the UK's leading private businesses. Corporate staff deploy their day-to-day commercial experience, analytical skills and influence in a different environment.

Voice of Social Entrepreneurs

Since 2006, CAN has been a strategic partner of the Office of the Third Sector to provide the voice of social entrepreneurs in the UK.

Enquiries

For an interview with Adele Blakebrough or Andrew Croft, please contact Kate Markey on 020 7922 7761 or 07738 95503 or email k.markey@can-online.org.uk